Bomb scare prompts increased security for Royal trip to Ireland

London was on high alert this Monday following the news that there were bomb threats made from Irish republican dissidents ahead of the Queen’s visit to Dublin.

Intelligence was received on late Sunday afternoon and came in the form of an anonymous tip from a caller claiming to be a representative of the above named group. It was not until Monday lunchtime that an official high alert warning was issued by The Metropolitan Police.

Further steps have since been taken to ensure the safety of Londoners. The Metropolitan Police, City of London Police and the British Transport Police are all working very closely together to ensure maximum diligence.

A spokesperson from the Met encouraged commuters to remain vigilant and to “report any information about unusual activity or behaviour which may be terrorist-related to the confidential anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.”

Jonathan Evans, Director General of the Security Service, noted in a recent speech: “The dissident Republicans have tended to form separate groups based on marginal distinctions and personal rivalries. But those separate groups can still be dangerous and in recent months there have been increasing signs of co-ordination and co-operation between the groups.”

As a result of a considerable arms dump and the trafficking of Russian TNT explosives, The Real IRA now have a substantial amount of weapons and ammunition.

Jonathan Evans went on to explain, “Whilst at present the dissidents’ campaign is focused in Northern Ireland we cannot exclude the possibility that they might seek to extend their attack to Great Britain as violent Republican groups have traditionally done.”

Given the current situation, The Queen’s visit to Dublin is expected to be heavily manned with units of security, as well as taking the extra measure to cordon off parts of the City Centre. The general public will be kept away from main routes on which the Queen and her team of people will travel.

Contribute

Useful Links

About Us

FinanceNews.co.uk aims to become a one-stop shop for personal finance content, news and information in the UK. With news topics covering everything in the personal finance sector from bank accounts to credit cards, debt to savings, we have a dedicated team of authors and business people who aim to bring you the leading stories, information, reviews and comparisons from an independent and informative perspective. The Finance News Team